Balochistan: Bangladesh 2.0: Social media giant Twitter has rejected Pakistan’s attempt to block an Indian news platform’s ground coverage on Balochistan. The microblogging site refused to accept Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) request to take down the News9 Plus story. The PTA had claimed that its content violates their law.
Twitter tells Indian media, “No action on Pakistan’s demand”
India’s first news OTT platform News9 Plus released a two-part series ‘Balochistan: Bangladesh 2.0’, which delves into the alleged human rights violations in the region as well as the situation in Balochistan. It also examines the possible reasons for the sudden attacks on Chinese civilians. Twitter said that they have not taken any action on the PTA’s objection at this time.
Documentary series featured State Sponsored Killings
The documentary series details the spurt in alleged state-sponsored killings of the Baloch people. Strategic experts and geo-political observers have dubbed the restive province another Bangladesh, which was called East Pakistan and became an independent country in 1971.
Balochistan’s displeasure increased over China’s shunning of local people
The spurt in violence has also been attributed to Baloch insurgent anger over China’s investment plans in the province. Beijing continues to expand investment in its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through the province. Balochistan’s displeasure is increasing over China’s shunning of the local people. The past few years have seen an uptick in violent attacks against Chinese citizens.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had raised objection
According to news agency ANI, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) objected to the documentary series of 25 December. Twitter contacted News9 Plus executive editor and docu-series director Aditya Raj Kaul via mail on February 5. The unit of Indian news OTT platform News9 Plus traveled to Balochistan to prepare the series, facing obstacles from the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps.
Kaul said, “We have been investigating the human rights abuses and oppression of the Baloch people by the Pakistan Army and ISI. While reporting the story, we spoke to activists, journalists and laypeople across the province to gather firsthand evidence of the horrific torture and its apparent conversion to a Chinese colony. Pakistan’s objection to our Balochistan series is an attack on freedom of expression and it justifies the questions we have raised.”
Twitter said, “In the interest of transparency, we are notifying you that the PTA has sent a request to Twitter regarding your account. It has been claimed that the following content violates the law of Pakistan. We have not taken any action on this content removal request at this time.”
Twitter also stated that they strongly believe in defending and respecting the voices of their users and that it is their policy to respond to any legal request from an authorized entity that they receive regarding the removal of content from their accounts. Notify users in
